What Rajesh Kumar Jindal teaches about AI in marketing

AI is never actually going to replace, at least for a very long time, the value of human intelligence or human creativity. What are some of the most exciting innovations that you have come across this year that you feel will influence the world of marketing? I think AI and automation is probably the most exciting thing that can happen to marketing in this phase. And I'll tell you why. I think for a while, marketing has promised very big things, including digital transformation. But if you look at some of the data,

I was reading about 75% of people are dropping off calls because they have a poor experience. 67% of them are dropping because they have to wait too long to get to a live agent. And then you see about 78% of transactions on the internet are dropped because people can't get to what they want. On the other side, if you look at it, the service agents who are doing this, their first call resolution times are dropping. Their average length of service is dropping. Burnouts are very high. Burnouts are very high. It's a hard job. Yeah.

The absentism has become double. So it's burning the candle at both ends. I think the level of intensity and work that is required is not really being done to make that promise. I think that's where the new automation comes in. It actually automates all the repetitive routine-based human work. And these things sometimes are hard to measure. But you take your own experience. You call for a service, whether it's changing of an airline ticket at the last minute or resolving complaint about a home appliance.

If you get an instantaneous response, your experience is good and you're going to stay on. So this is the potential of this robotic process automation and AI lies in. I would think really making the promise happen is what you can today do with robotic process automation and AI. Do you feel that technology has made the marketer's life far tougher than it was previously because far more accountability, metrics are measured the whole way through? I think, yes, marketer's life is far tougher than it used to be. But I don't think there is this technology.

I think it's the overall business environment and the way business is done. Today, the landscape is very, very competitive. And eventually, all parts of business owe accountability to shareholders. And that's where marketers fall as well. And if marketers and CMOs have to raise their contribution and their seat on the boardroom table, there is no answer. And actually, it's an oxymoron because if I look at the data, among all functions in any company, across the board, marketers are the last to adopt technology.

For all functions, I see those numbers in about double digits. So, market is a single digit. So, as much we talk about it, we don't really adopt it. So, we have the challenge, but we are expecting somebody else to solve it. And the new era of technology is hands-on. It's not about somebody else solving it for you. You have to get yourself involved and then you can solve it. So, what are the three things about AI that marketers need to know today to sort of future-proof themselves? Yeah.

So, I think, like I said, I think, you know, I'm building on the same thing. Firstly, I think marketers must be friended. They should sort of, you know, take it away from this big fancy jargon and bring it home, both for themselves and their teams. Right. You know, like all technologies, it's all new and it's getting built as we speak. Right. So, I think it's important to test play with it, get your hands into it. You know, it's not going to bite and no failure is fatal. But if you delay too long, it's not going to help you.

And then the third one, you know, to me is AI is never actually going to replace, at least for a very long time, you know, the value of human intelligence or human creativity. It actually is going to free more time for you to be what you do best. When you hire new talent, this is advice for young managers, right? When you hire new talent, what are those top few things that you expect them to have that you look out for? I'm a little bit old-fashioned on that. I think, you know, first and foremost, I do want to see people have domain expertise.

I've tried and burnt my hands. I think if you are coming into a function, you must know, you know, your function. Second, I think I definitely look for drive in people. To me, you know, your hunger in the belly to make things happen is really important. You know, no amount of your fancy credentials or pedigree, you know, fulfills or, you know, makes up for it. Then I would think, you know, people's ability to collaborate and work with others, especially in a function like marketing.

I think if you can't take people along, you're not going to be in it for the long run, right? Then I would say dependability from an execution standpoint. You know, if you take on something, you really make sure it happens. You know, it's going to get done. Yeah, I mean, I for detail, I would say, you know, really take it on. You know, you don't leave any side doors. When you do, you do, right? You know, nobody knows the outcome and the result. But when you take it, you know, you're really going to put your best into this.

And the last one, which I've seen, especially in the fast environment changing today, I actually look for something and it's different for different people. For example, I look for people who've seen some adversity in their life or career. I think it really grounds people, you know, and it really gives them a very different perspective. So tell us a bit about Rajesh Jinjal outside of the workplace. I mean, what do you, what are those things that make your life interesting, that sort of give you the energy to go back next day and push harder?

Yeah, I mean, again, you know, I tinker with a whole lot of things. You know, I, generally I would say, you know, art, music, theater, you know, in that arena. So I'm a failed musician. I tried very hard in my early days. I paint, you know, I do photography for last many years. I actually love cooking, you know, mostly. I enjoy doing something different on the weekends, you know, I, and since I was doing painting, I didn't have enough time to paint. I took on photography. Then I started cooking. I started photographing my stuff.

You painted the album art for another one of your industry. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I did for Contraband, I did, you know, cover for one of their songs. Then I did actually a wine label for a friend of mine, actually colleague of mine, the previous organization, who makes his crop of wine every year in Korea. So I did a label for him in Korea. So I started putting pictures of, I started photographing what I cook on the weekends. I created Instagram page on Weekend Chef. And then people started asking me for recipes. Then I started painting recipes.

And then people started painting recipes. And then people started painting recipes. And then people started painting recipes. And then people started painting recipes. And then people started painting recipes. And then people started painting recipes. And then people started painting recipes. And then people started painting recipes. And then people started painting recipes. And then people started painting recipes. And then people started painting recipes. And then people started painting recipes. And then people started painting recipes.

And then people started painting recipes. And then people started painting recipes. And then people started painting recipes. And then people started painting recipes. And then people started painting recipes. And then people started painting recipes. And then people started painting recipes.